Technical Field
The present invention relates to network-wide broadcasting, and more particularly, to a multi-cell broadcasting framework for maximizing system utility of broadcast and unicast flows for network-wide broadcasting over Long Term Evolution (LTE).
Description of the Related Art
Evolved-Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services (eMBMS) is a set of features in Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks to deliver bandwidth-intensive multimedia content on a point-to-multipoint basis. The notion of a Single Frequency Network (SFN) in eMBMS allows base stations to synchronize and transmit signals in a coordinated fashion. While SFN boosts users' channel quality via transmit diversity, the use of a common modulation scheme for broadcast content across base stations, results in reduced utilization for those that can support much higher data rates for their users. Excluding such base stations from the SFN helps them utilize their resources better by not being constrained by the common modulation, but creates additional inter-cell interference from their independent transmissions.
3GPP LTE is the latest wireless broadband standard that offers higher data rates than its predecessors. However, existing LTE deployments are not primed to carry high bandwidth broadcast content (e.g., HD live news) addressed to a large audience. Recent standardization efforts behind evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services (eMBMS) support the delivery of broadcast sessions to a practically unlimited number of users over a wide geographical area. The envisioned use cases of eMBMS include live television, enhancing the fan experience at venues via live video (replays with multiple camera angles etc.), delivering over-the-air software updates to mobile devices and emergency broadcast messages.